Time for change and time to fail – when Agile hits the real, physical world
The digital space has for the last two decades been disrupted by players that utilize new technology, new ways of organizing and development to become new market leaders. Followers have adopted agile practices, while focus has shifted towards frameworks and scaling. Much time and effort have been spent in big transformation initiatives where real change as well as business results are too often lacking.
A similar disruption and agile movement now occur in the development and manufacturing of physical products, such as the automotive industry. This brings immense opportunities and new challenges – in a different context. With the unique challenges of hardware development in mind, let’s explore why some of the ways we have come to talk about agile can even become its biggest impediment to improvement in this context and why we risk repeating the same patterns that have led to failure of agile transformations in the digital realm.
Christian Fredriksson will suggest a different approach to increase agility in physical product development, as well as enabling change in any new and dynamic context where the standardized recipes and frameworks tend to fail. And it’s all about timing.
Christian Fredriksson’s agile journey took off academically at first, at a research institute tied to Gothenburg University in the early 2000’s. He explored how organizations can find better ways to learn, organize and adapt in complex environments, using network based organization and online customer collaboration. He has since then also gained more than two decades of practical experience and twelve years of coaching experience in agile and lean development in a variety of industries, while continuing to explore how research on how humans and complex adaptive systems work can help us innovate and improve.
For the 10 last years he has also helped to increase agility in development of physical products, with the integration of mechanical hardware, electronics and digital services. Much of his experience in this domain comes from working with R&D- and digital organizations in the automotive industry, with customers such as Volvo Cars and Polestar.
Based on the Swedish west coast and in his company Getability AB, Christian provides strategic advice, coaching, mentoring and training to teams, organizations and leaders seeking to expand their abilities to thrive in a complex environment.